UK aid—security, scrutiny, and the challenge of Afghanistan

Might representation of the UK's international aid be overly positive?

DFID's health strategy

Daniel Graymore

UK Government and WHO

DFID: a report card and a reappraisal

BackgroundIn 2010, the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID) committed through its 'Framework for results for reproductive, maternal and newborn health (RMNH)' to save 50,000 maternal lives and 250,000 newborn lives by 2015. They also committed to monitoring the performance of this portfolio of investments to demonstrate transparency and accountability. Methods currently available to directly measure lives saved are cost-, time-, and labour-intensive. The gold standard for calculating the total number of lives saved would require measuring mortality with large scale population based surveys or annual vital events surveillance. Neither is currently available in all low- and middle-income countries. Estimating the independent effect of DFID support relative to all other effects on health would also be challenging.MethodsThe Lives Saved Tool (LiST) is an evidence based software for modelling the effect of changes in health intervention coverage on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child mortality. A multi-country LiST-based analysis protocol was developed to retrospectively assess the total annual number of maternal and newborn lives saved from DFID aid programming in low- and middle-income countries.ResultsAnnual LiST analyses using the latest program data from DFID country offices were conducted between 2013 and 2016, estimating the annual number of maternal and neonatal lives saved across 2010–2015. For each country, independent project results were aggregated into health intervention coverage estimates, with and in the absence of DFID funding. More than 80% of reported projects were suitable for inclusion in the analysis, with 151 projects analysed in the 2016 analysis. Between 2010 and 2014, it is estimated that DFID contributed to saving the lives of 15,000 women in pregnancy and childbirth with health programming and 88,000 with family planning programming. It is estimated that DFID health programming contributed to saving 187,000 newborn lives.ConclusionsIt is feasible to estimate the overall contribution and impact of DFID’s investment in RMNH from currently available information on interventions and coverage from individual country offices. This utilization of LiST, with estimated population coverage based on DFID program inputs, can be applied to similar types of datasets to quantify programme impact. The global data were used to estimate DFID’s progress against the Framework for results targets to inform future programming. The identified limitations can also be considered to inform future monitoring and evaluation program design and implementation within DFID.

DFID's health strategy

Since 2001, Afghanistan has received over $50 billion in development aid, 1 yet there is scant evidence to suggest that it has been effective in delivering stabilisation or security objectives, and...

Development and Validation of the Lovi: The Laws on Violence Against Women and Girls Index

This paper presents an analysis of the main determinants for the increase in Brazilian production and exportation of agro-based products from 1990 through 2013. The analysis led to some interesting conclusions. First, Brazil did not follow a predetermined model calibrated for success in the international agricultural and agro-processed markets. Rather, it altered its budget to support market-oriented agricultural policies in a responsive manner that reflected the constraints and opportunities arising in both the domestic and international markets while taking advantage of abundant agricultural land, a favourable climate, and a willingness to invest by farmers and larger agribusiness companies. Second, increasing agricultural production and capacity facilitated increasing exports of both agricultural and agro-processed products. Third, Brazilian exports of agro-based products were increasing before and after the 2002 through 2008 international surge in food prices. Our econometric model revealed that increased Brazilian agricultural and agro-processed food production and overall world GDP growth, rather than international prices, have been the main drivers of Brazilian agricultural and agro-processed exports. Acknowledgement : This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Aid from the Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them.

Reforming Development Assistance: Lessons from the UK Experience

Since mid-2007, when Gordon Brown became prime minister, there has been much discussion in the Department for International Development (DfID) about its ambitions to transform itself from an aid agency into a development ministry. The Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn of 2007 - which set public expenditure priorities for the next three years - placed a substantial portion of UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) under the control of other Whitehall departments, notably the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Department of the Environment (DoE). Paul Collier's influential book, The Bottom Billion , draws on a growing body of evidence in highlighting the importance of peace and the rule of law to poverty reduction. For DfID, current efforts to build policy coherence across Whitehall also raise questions about the poverty focus of UK aid. Keywords: Department for International Development (DfID); Department of the Environment (DoE); Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO); Ministry of Defence (MoD); policy coherence; poverty reduction; UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA); Whitehall department

MotivationIn 2020, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) was merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). This policy move strengthens the trend to “securitize” development, whereby the provision of aid is motivated by national security concerns.PurposeMany researchers have raised concerns about the securitization of aid and its consequences for development, but little research has examined its impact on aid‐recipient countries.Approach and MethodsThis study evaluates 144 securitized aid projects implemented by DFID between 2000 and 2018 in Kenya, Nigeria and South Sudan, using the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.FindingsOur analysis finds that although most of the projects assessed were “relevant”, i.e. formally aligned with recipient and funders’ objectives, many struggled to achieve their intended outputs (“effectiveness”). Few of the projects had a positive “impact”. We conclude that the securitized projects reviewed did not significantly strengthen the recipient countries’ institutions, stability, or security but had some negative side effects.Policy ImplicationsIn view of the merger of DFID with the FCO and the decision to reduce aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI), the UK is likely to draw an even closer connection between domestic security priorities and its development aid. In view of our empirical findings, the UK government needs to be more aware of the limitations of development interventions undertaken in the name of security and consider other means of enabling development.

West African governments, the WHO and wider international community were caught unprepared for the world's largest Ebola outbreak of 2014-16. This was an unprecedented challenge to local services and international agencies, since the emergency required high-tech molecular diagnostic services operated by specialist staff and a coordinated emergency response in addition to humanitarian support, which was not available at the beginning of the outbreak. Public Health England (PHE), as a new national public health agency was well placed to provide support for these needs. After the outbreak, PHE supported reconstruction to ensure diagnostic and emergency planning capability remained in place in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak and build necessary public health infrastructure for the future. The article describes the role PHE played as a national public health agency supporting reconstruction and long-term development through the UK Government (Department for International Development) programme called 'Resilient Zero'. Public Health England (PHE), UK Government's Department for International Development, WHO, US Centers for Communicable Diseases (CDC), China Centre for Communicable Diseases (China CDC). The need for reliable, sustainable, in country molecular diagnostics, together with a programme to strengthen in country Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response (EPRR). Providing high tech molecular capability in a resource-poor West African country with variable provision of basic diagnostic equipment, intermittent power supply, ineffective supply chains and maintaining training capacity for emergency planning in the long term. Emergency planning models from the West needed to be adapted for the countries' context. Short term aid projects as a model did not suite this development requirement. PHE had strong local and international political support to reconstruct three Government regional laboratories and deploy molecular technology. Significant learning by PHE as a national public health agency and sharing this will be of benefit to other national public health agencies. UK staff reported increased levels of satisfaction and experience relevant to public health practice. The Sierra Leonean Government and officials requested long-term levels of commitment. It is important for agencies such as PHE to constantly learn, develop long-term institutional partnerships and play a bigger role with other similar agencies internationally. How best to support sustainable high-tech molecular technology in West Africa and modules for emergency planning relevant to the context; evidence for long term versus short-term support for highly complex diagnostic capabilities; relevance to maintaining individual country public health infrastructure to ensuring global health security; benefits of overseas work for employee of a national agency.

Climate change poses a serious challenge to achieving the SDG2 of ending hunger by 2030 and leaves billions of people at risk of food insecurity, illness, and malnutrition. This paper analyzes the long-term impacts of climatic shocks on the nutritional status of 1,911 sample children in Ethiopia. To this end, the study employed a linear mixed effect model, random intercept probit model, and structural equation modeling. Accordingly, climatic shocks are negatively associated with child nutrition. Moreover, early life exposure to climatic shocks is negatively associated with nutritional status at later age. Therefore, if appropriate measures are not taken, the predicted increase in the frequency of extreme events might slow down the secular progress in reduction of child undernutrition in Ethiopia. The role of other covariates was also analyzed. Accordingly, despite their biological and behavioral advantage, girls were more likely to be stunted than boys. This finding highlights the need for a gender-sensitive intervention and the role of intra-household food allocation during shocks. This study also revealed that program participation by drought-affected households has a positive association with child nutrition. Therefore, programs targeted to shock affected households might have a potential to smooth the impact of climatic shocks on child undernutrition Acknowledgement : The data used in this study come from Young Lives, a 15-year study of the changingnature of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam (www.younglives.org.uk). Young Lives is funded by UK aid from the Department forInternational Development (DFID). The views expressed here are those of the author(s). They are not necessarily those of Young Lives, the University of Oxford, DFID or other funders.